The Glass Lake (1994)

My daughter Laurie induced me to read The Copper Beech on August 5, 2012, and when I liked it she suggested I read this 1994 novel. It involves the disappearance of a woman, leaving behind a well-meaning husband and two children. One of the children, Kit, is a girl of 12 who for reasons which seemed good to her caused the small Irish town to believe he disappaeaer had drowned in the lake. The dramatics of the story are very intense for the first half of the book and again in the final denouement and it is hard to not want to keep reading even though the theme is not fraught with universal significance. I don't know life in small town Ireland in the 1950's but it is easy to believe that the book captures that life in its essence. Maybe some of the mood changes in the characters seem unusual and not likely, but one doesn't hesitate to wonder how the dilemma will be worked out. Whether you will like the way it wors outI don't know, but on reflection I decided it was satisfactory. ( )

This is one of Maeve Binchy's earlier books. It was published in 1994. I don't remember for sure how I got it. It may have been a present from my sister or my mother. In 1994 I had just started back to school and money was tight so I know I didn't buy this Hardback book.

I first discovered Binchy's writing when I visited Dublin in 1988. She was writing columns for the Irish Times and I loved them. Then I was thrilled to find a copy of The Lilac Bus in a bookstore which meant I could enjoy her writing even when I went back to Canada (remember this is pre-internet days).

I don't remember too much about this book but I'm sure I loved it as I did everything of Binchy's until the extremely disappointing Nights of Rain and Stars. ( )

My favorite book that I have read like 100 times. I'm not the best book reviewer, but I'll just say it's a great one! (and it may be time for me to hunt it up again!) ( )

Some elements of this were great: the basic idea of the disappearance of the main character's mother, the way in which the central misunderstanding occurs, the way this alters the family dynamics. All pretty gripping.

Other bits I didn't enjoy so much. When the story shifted to Lena and her transformation of the office, some of the interest was lost for me. Also the party in the hotel storyline was a bit tedious.

Events became a bit melodramatic towards the end, and lost me a bit. Unusual for a Maeve Binchy novel. Not bad, but not brilliant. ( )

I read this several years ago but remember enjoying it very much. I think it may be my favorite Maeve Binchy story to date; but I have not read them all. ( )